"Sick"
(Day Seventeen of SasuSaku Month.)

Sakura was normally the second person to arrive after him, so Sasuke was immediately suspicious when he caught sight of Naruto ambling towards the bridge he was in.

"Where's Sakura-chan?" Was Naruto's greeting, voice confused.

Sasuke shrugged. For what was probably the first time, the two were subdued as they waited for their remaining teammates. Their dread grew when a puff of smoke appeared and Kakashi's "Yo!" resounded across the silent clearing.

"Where's Sakura?"

"That's what I said, too!" Naruto shot up from his seat on the floor of the bridge. "She wasn't here when I came, and Sakura-chan's never late!"

The three men had shared a look before unanimously sprinting towards the direction of Sakura's house, ignoring the sudden feeling of dread that welled inside of them. Once they arrived, Naruto didn't even bother to know and instead barged inside like a rampaging bull.

Sasuke and Kakashi didn't even chastise him. Instead they raced inside, looking at each empty room and ignoring the feeling they had when their search found nothing.

It had been Sasuke who found the jackpot. He had trudged up the second floor where he knew Sakura's bedroom was located, and it was all he could do not to heave a sigh of relief when he found the lump moving restlessly inside the pale pink covers.

"She's here." He raised his voice, effectively getting the attention of all his teammates.

Kakashi and Naruto thundered up the stairs as Sasuke strode towards the bed, gently moving the covers down to reveal a flushed medic-nin. "Sakura…?"

"Wha-?" Sakura groggily blinked, before her eyes went wide when she finally caught sight of her teammates. "Guys! Why are you here?"

She looked horrible. Short pink hair in disarray, blood-shot eyes, red nose, a pale pallor and a thick voice – it was obvious that the greatest medical ninja to come after Tsunade was ill, and Sasuke shook his head at the irony. "You're sick."

"I'm not." Sakura sniffed, ignoring Naruto's vehement protest and Kakashi's raised brow. "Really!"

Sasuke snorted when Sakura suddenly sneezed. "No, you're not."

When it became apparent that there was no medicine inside the house, or anything edible to eat, Sasuke took command and sent Naruto and Kakashi to buy some tablets and noodles while he made sure that Sakura was comfortable.

"Why didn't you call me? Humans invented something called telephone, you know."

Sakura stared at him, noticing Sasuke's furrowed eyebrows, indicating his frustration with her. Sakura couldn't even bring herself to snap at his witty remark, which was what she would have normally done. Instead she shrugged and gave him her honest answer.

"I didn't know I had a person to call. I haven't since my parents died." She looked back down at her comforter. "Just used to dealing with it on my own, I guess."

To her surprise, Sasuke snorted, and Sakura felt him gently moving her sweaty bangs from her face. She flushed, her green eyes looking up to meet his amused ones.

"Well, you have one now."

Probably my shortest piece for the month. Sorry, but I couldn't visualize a nice story with the prompt of the day. I hope you enjoyed it, though.

My exam starts tomorrow, asdfghjkl. It's a three day schedule, and thankfully, my major subjects are paired with minors (that are feeling major, omfg). Btw, thank you for the continuous support from you, readers. You rock.

Review?

[Day Seventeen: Inventions]